I've already got somebody lined up who wants to buy my house. I want to sell my house. Seems easy enough, right?

The question is how I'm supposed to make everything actually happen. There are a few web sites willing to sell me blank contracts for $15, but I don't get to see them before I pay to know whether they're any good or not. I tried calling BuyOwner.com, who advertises heavily on TV around here, and they said that they don't offer that sort of service. They require you to buy the whole package (advertising, etc.).

Anyone done this before? I imagine it's different from state to state, but I just want to figure out how to do it and get it done.

I thought about doing the same thing, and I was going to retain a lawyer to do all my paperwork. That would likely be the safest bet, other than that doesn't the title agency and/or banks do most of the work? These would be costs that you could split.(title agency/lawyer) since by selling without an agent you are likely saving a ton of money.

I did this a year ago, we found a template offer contract online somwhere (don't remember where) and changed what we wanted to. Then we went to a title company that did all the paperwork for us.. cost about $6k closing. Just search (phone book?) for title companies.

realtors don't do anything at the closing, the title company does all the work. Supposedly you can do the closing yourself without a title company, bringing the closing costs down to less than $500.. but I didn't do enough research into how that works.

I bought my neighbor’s house and just wrote out a one paragraph agreement (no template) saying: X is selling house his house to me and upon closing I take possession. I can barely spell my name besides write out a legal contract but it passed the bank and necessary lawyers.

The only issue I had was that the lawyers didn’t like how the abstract described the propriety lines and I had to pay around $4k for a survey and wait 6 months. That really pissed off the seller and me.

How timely. I just bought a new house 3 weeks ago. It won't be ready until November 14th 2007. So I've got quite a bit of time to sell my current home. I just don't like the idea of having to toss over CAD$14000 to realtors in commissions alone (closing costs will still be added to that).

I haven't looked into the BuyOwner route yet, but I've heard that you can't get listeed in the realtor computer systems (MLS) without going through a realtor. Putting a ForSale sign in front of the house doesn't seem to me the best way to attract a wide audience.

Also, if you're selling yourself and a potential buyer already has a realtor, doesn't that exclude them from your sale? Or are realtors willing to work with owners selling their own homes? Would I still be on the hook for their percentage?

We've had an agent here to give us a rough estimate on what we can expect to sell for "now" as well as detail all the costs we're gong to face. She was the agent that found us this house when we bought 3 years ago and is willing to drop her rates a half point. We have another agent coming by next week that specializes in this area to give his thoughts (he's a relative of a friend of my GF's). We'd likely onl put the house on the market late next spring or early summer.

The main value that an agent provides is listing your house on the MLS database, hosting open houses, and otherwise trying to attract customers to your property. As a seller, you're generally required, by contract, that any sale you make will pay out a commission. If you're not under any contract and a buyer shows up, then you're under no obligation to pay their agent. Of course, their agent may well steer the customer away from your house for precisely that reason.

Now, when you're dealing with BuyOwner or any of the other modern alternatives, it's unclear who exactly gets paid for what.

You should find a "current" contract for your state, and use it. I have never tried an online version, but your local stationary store should have one. There are many items that need to be negotiated beyond the sales price.

Who will pay for ;
termite inspection, and what is the time frame to get it done.
home inspection.
title insurance
escrow
home warranty
any repairs that are needed
etc.

Typically the escrow will follow whatever directions you give them, they are not attorneys and will hesitate to give you advice.

A title company is just a history of the property. The information they provide is insured. In some areas the title company and the escow are the same company, not always.

I have been in the title business for over 22 years, my advice is to use a contract.

I guess this is going against other people urging you to go ahead, but I asked a person I know who's been in the title business for a long while (my usual source for property issues):

Quote:
First, it is very different state by state. Second, there are things you do yourself and others you just breakdown and pay the professional--even where it seems SOOOO close to being doable yourself. There's too much money involved and too much risk of fraud to not use an attorney (or, in many western states, a title or escrow firm) and good escrow contract between buyer and seller to govern the deal. You really have to have a third-party "stakesholder," at a minimum, to transfer real estate effectively. Don't try this at "home."